Dear Senator,

Every four years, citizens of the United States ages eighteen and up, gather at local voting locations to elect the President, our government leader. From Washington to Obama we have always elected our leaders as such. The Constitution has given us our way to vote- the Electoral College. This process, of course, consists of our 538 electors, the place where they meet to vote, and the counting of said votes. But how effective is this process? Honestly, I believe the Electoral College should be diminished.

Statistics show that direct voting is preferred by the majority of the citizens in the U.S.. According to a poll taken in 2000, 60% of voters would rather direct voting over the current system. With the current "

winner-take-all

" concept in most all states except Maine and Nebraska, many people find that even if 45% of all the votes in the state are for one party, all of the votes go to the opposition. Citizens may as well not even vote under this standard if they wont even be represented.

Although not one vote will decide an election if we had direct voting, many single votes can. Take the 1.4 out of 3 million people in California who voted one way and got all their votes thrown the other because of the other 1.6 million people. With that 1.4 million, mixed with tons of thousands of voters, one party may actually win the election rather then the canidate who would have won with the Electoral College process. For example, in 2000, George W. Bush won the election and most of the Electoral College votes. However ,

Al Gore got the most individual votes. How can that be fair at all?

When "we the people" vote for the president, we are not actually doing what we have come to believe. In reality, we are actually voting for representatives called

Electors to vote for the canidate. These electors cast their vote depending on the votes that we (you and I), cast. These electors that we choose are generally very trustworthy and reliable, being the reasons we choose these government officials to elect our government leaders. Sadly, however, not everybody is who they say they are, as we all have flaws and sins; occasionally one of these electors will be unfaithful and vote for the canidate they deem fit, instead of who we have chosen ourselves. Although this is rare, the possibilities would be negated completely if we simply had direct, individual voting.

To wrap up, I vote that we abolish the Electoral College and allow the citizens of the United States to vote for ourselves. It would make the majorty of the U.S. happier, it will make us better represented, and we will be directly electing our own government officials. I believe that we should amend the old ways and evolve and adapt to newer, better ways, as we always have in the past.

Thank you,

Jerica    